Petroleum News has heard that Kuukpik Drilling LLC is mobilizing its rig No. 5 to drill the Northern Dancer No. 1 well for Storm Cat Energy Corp. The well is believed to be in the Big Lake area, north of Anchorage, in Alaskaís Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

In May 2005 Scott Zimmerman, Storm Catís president and CEO, said that the company hoped to drill a well in the Mat-Su Borough, initially looking for conventional gas but with the possibility of evaluating coalbed methane. The company owns a combination of state and Mental Health Trust leases in the borough.

North Slope production down 4 percent

Alaska North Slope production dropped 3.6 percent in December, averaging 859,838 barrels per day compared to 892,192 bpd in November, a 12.4 percent drop from December 2004, when North Slope production averaged 981,072 bpd.

BP Exploration (Alaska)-operated Prudhoe Bay had the largest per-barrel drop (23,428 bpd) and the second-highest percentage drop, 5.5 percent, averaging 400,965 bpd in December compared to 424,393 bpd in November.

The highest percentage drop, 8.33 percent, was at BPís Northstar field, which averaged 54,990 bpd in December down from 59,984 bpd in November.

Production from BP-operated Lisburne averaged 38,894 bpd in December, down 4.7 percent from a November average of 40,799 bpd, while BP-operated Endicott averaged 21,072 bpd, down 2.8 percent from a November average of 21,673 bpd.

The ConocoPhillips Alaska-operated Kuparuk River field averaged 169,348 bpd in December, down 1.5 percent from a November average of 171,998 bpd. Alpine, also operated by ConocoPhillips Alaska, averaged 129,910 bpd down 0.5 percent from a November average of 130,597 bpd.

BPís Milne Point field was the only field with a month-to-month increase in production, averaging 44,659 bpd, up 4.8 percent from a November average of 42,748 bpd.